Yankees pitcher Luis Severino exits in 5th inning against Brewers with left side injury

Updated Sep. 8, 2023 11:19 p.m. ET

Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Yankees pitcher Luis Severino left Friday night's start against Milwaukee in the fifth inning because of an injury to his left side and will undergo diagnostic testing.

After allowing a leadoff single to Brice Turang on a 92 mph fastball, Severino dropped his glove in front of the mound, doubled over in pain and walked around the mound. The 29-year-old was holding his left side near his oblique and replaced by Jhony Brito after being checked out by an athletic trainer and manager Aaron Boone.

“I feel like somebody shot me. It's just like a deep sharp pain," an emotional Severino said while struggling to hold back tears after New York's 8-2 loss.

Eligible for free agency after this season, Severino might have made his final Yankees appearances. He is 4-8 with an 6.65 ERA.

Severino did not make his season debut until May 21 because of a strained latissimus dorsi muscle.

“You never want to see that,” Boone said. “Obviously he's been through a lot so we'll see what he have there.”

Severino averaged 96.1 mph with 29 fastballs, slightly down from his season average of 96.5 mph. Boone and Severino said the pain only occurred on his last pitch.

Severino is earning $15 million in the option year of contract paying him $55 million over five seasons.

He went 19-8 in 2018 and was picked as an All-Star for the second year in a row but is 13-12 with a 4.47 ERA in 45 starts since. In 2019, he strained a lat muscle and didn’t make his first start until Sept. 17. He made two more starts in the postseason and then had Tommy John surgery on Feb. 27, 2020. Severino returned in September 2021 and made three appearances, then missed two months last season because of right shoulder tightness.

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